GM technology could have "catastrophic" consequences if it were allowed back on to British supermarket shelves, claimed Soil Association director Patrick Holden. That was the seasoned organics campaigner's uncompromising message as he opposed Tuesday night's motion with a passionate attack on groceries which have long been labelled "Frankenstein foods" by the nation's media. In a worst case scenario, warned Holden, Britain could find itself fighting an irreversible crisis in farming and health. And although he conceded there was currently no proof that GM crops posed any risk to human health, he argued they had yet to be given the all-clear. The full extent of any effects, he claimed, could even take "generations" to emerge. "The technology is unrecallable and if the worst fears, which some of us intuitively have, are realised, then the consequences would be catastrophic. There would be no way of recalling crops as contamination with introduction is inevitable." The proof for such a bold statement already existed, he claimed, with Mexico providing a clear example of how introducing GM crops once can saddle a country with them forever. "Despite the fact Mexico has banned GM for a number of years, there has still been cross contamination, with original crops being crowded out. That is the evidence of recent findings." Contamination in north America, meanwhile, was "well known", he claimed and, reaching for the c' word again, he said it had reached "catastrophic" levels in the States. Using genetic engineering in farming, he added, was "simply reacting to one crisis by creating another". "There is absolutely no doubt that, in Europe, the market has comprehensively rejected GM foods," he claimed. "There may be a market in North America but the population there had a very low level of awareness of the issues." Branding GM giants like Monsanto as "arrogant" in their belief that they could cure the world's farming crisis, Holden added: "It is an illusion that we can go forward into a world where GM foods can live alongside non-GM foods or organics. It is one way or another. "It is down the GM route or towards sustainable organic farming which has greater support." {{NEWS }}